MASSACRES, gang rapes and villages burned to the ground were among the hundreds of rights violations in the Central African Republic (CAR) since 2003 outlined yesterday in a new UN report.

The report was released in the Senegalese capital Dakar amid growing fears that the country is again slipping into the sectarian bloodshed that left thousands dead between late 2013 and 2015.

UN investigators highlight more than 600 abuses over a 12-year period and urge prosecution and the creation of a truth and reconciliation commission.

“In documenting the violations and abuses of the past, we hope to galvanise national and international efforts to protect and bring justice to the victims of these crimes,” said UN special representative Parfait Onanga-Anyanga.

The International Criminal Court is already examining CAR abuses dating back to 2003.

While the report does not characterise the worst sectarian violence as genocide, it does “identify facts which may warrant further investigation to determine whether the elements of the crime may have been met.”

The country exploded into violence in late 2013 after mostly Muslim rebels from the Seleka coalition terrorised civilians in the capital until the Seleka leader stepped down from power.

A mainly Christian militia that arose in opposition to the rebels then carried out horrific violence against Muslim civilians in retaliation, even though few supported Seleka in the first place.

Violence ebbed with the installation of a civilian transitional government and the arrival of UN peacekeepers who replaced a regional force.